Azerbaijan’s growing engagement with Central Asia is evolving beyond a series of bilateral partnerships into a broader regional framework linking the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, according to an analysis published by the Jamestown Foundation. The analysis, titled “Summer Diplomacy Deepens Azerbaijan’s Integration with Central Asia,” was authored by Roza Bayramli, a leading research fellow at the Center for Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center) in Baku, Azerbaijan. It examines Azerbaijan’s expanding political, economic, and transport ties with the five Central Asian states and argues that the emergence of the “C6” format is giving practical shape to a wider regional architecture.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s state visit to Uzbekistan on August 23–24 was another milestone in the rapidly expanding relationship between Baku and Tashkent. Aliyev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired the third meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council and signed a Treaty on Eternal Friendship. The accompanying package included an action plan to implement investment and trade agreements, along with agreements and cooperation programs covering pensions, tourism, culture, justice, customs-related cooperation, and interregional ties.
The program was designed to increase bilateral trade turnover to $1 billion by 2030 (President of Azerbaijan; President of Uzbekistan, August 23). The two presidents also launched joint initiatives in sectors including banking, construction materials, education, fuel infrastructure, mineral processing, horticulture, and large-scale residential and tourism developments (President of Uzbekistan, August 23). Viewed in isolation, the visit reflects the growing institutional density of the Azerbaijani–Uzbek alliance.
Viewed within the broader diplomatic sequence of summer 2026, however, it points to a larger regional development. A series of high-level meetings between Azerbaijan and Central Asian states preceded the Uzbekistan visit. These included Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s state visit to Azerbaijan on June 22–23, Aliyev’s state visit to Kyrgyzstan on July 31, and, later that same day, an informal meeting between Aliyev and the five Central Asian presidents in Cholpon-Ata (President of Azerbaijan, June 22, July 31 [1], [2]; see EDM, September 10).
At the meeting, Aliyev noted that he had visited Central Asian countries 16 times since the beginning of 2023, while Central Asian leaders had visited Azerbaijan 26 times during the same period (President of Azerbaijan, July 31). Taken together, these exchanges indicate that Azerbaijan’s relationships with Central Asia are transitioning from a series of bilateral partnerships to a more interconnected regional framework. The seventh Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, held in Tashkent on November 16, 2025, marked a key moment in the development of regional cooperation (President of Uzbekistan, November 16, 2025).
Launched in 2018, the Consultative Meetings are an informal high-level summit mechanism aimed at rebuilding regional trust, addressing longstanding disputes, and strengthening cooperation among the Central Asian states. At that meeting, the five Central Asian countries approved Azerbaijan’s accession as a full participant in the Consultative Meeting. Mirziyoyev presented the decision as a step that would “build a strong bridge between Central Asia and the South Caucasus,” while “paving the way for the formation of a unified space for cooperation” between the two regions (President of Uzbekistan, November 16, 2025).
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